Apparatus for grooving panel surfaces

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for grooving panel surfaces along laterally spaced lines comprises a plurality of grooving cutters and mounting means mounting the cutters side by side for lateral adjustment. Adjusting means is connected to the cutters for adjusting their lateral position. An indicator is mounted on each cutter. It is operable to indicate on the surface of a panel in feed position, the position of the cutter with reference to the lines on the panel. The adjusting means thereupon adjusts the cutters to align them with the lines so that the grooves are cut along the lines as the panel is fed to the cutters. Paint applying or striping apparatus cooperates with the cutters in applying paint to the grooves as they are cut.

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[54] APPARATUS FOR GROOVHNG PANEL 1,411,864 4/1922 Mitrovich ..l44/l36 x SURFACES 3,036,605 5/1962 Joa 144/133 x 3,093,168 6/1963 Colt et al ...l43/37 R Inventor: Daniel McLean, Independence s- 2,505,788 5/1950 Norquist ..l44/l36 x 73 :G i-P if C ti, Pld, 1 Asslgnee :2? 8 ac lc orpora on on an Primary Examiner-Donald R. Schran Attorney-Eugene D. Farley [22] Filed: Jan. 28, 1970 21] Appl. No.: 6,472 [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for grooving panel surfaces along laterally spaced [52] U S Cl 144/136 R 143/168 B 144,133 R lines comprises a plurality of grooving cutters and mounting 1 18/37 means mounting the cutters side by side for lateral adjustment. [5]] Int Cl 1/02 Adjusting means is connected to the cutters for adjusting their [58] Fieid 143/37 lateral position. An indicator is mounted on each cutter. It is 1 18/37 operable to indicate on the surface ofa panel in feed position, the position of the cutter with reference to the lines on the panel. The adjusting means thereupon adjusts the cutters to [56] References Cited align them with the lines so that the grooves are out along the UNITED STATES PATENTS lines as the panel is fed to the cutters. Paint applying or striping apparatus cooperates with the cutters in applying paint to Newman )1: the grooves as they are 2:806:492 9/1957 Becker ..l43/168 1a 6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMAR28 I972 SHEET 1 OF 3 Daniel M. McLean BY INVENTOR PATENTEDMARZES 1972 3,651,842-

SHEET 2 OF 3 Fig. 2. Daniel M.McLean INVENTOR PATENTEnmzamz 3.651.842

sum 3 OF 3 Daniel McLean INVENTOR Hfh APPARATUS FOR GROOVING PANEL SURFACES This invention relates to apparatus for grooving and striping panel surfaces along longitudinally extending, laterally spaced lines. It pertains particularly to apparatus for grooving and striping plywood panels having surfaces composed of flitches arranged side by side and thereby creating joints providing lines along which grooves may be cut, the grooves thereafter being painted to produce highly decorative plywood panels.

In the manufacture of decorative plywood panelling, it is conventional procedure to provide face veneers composited from a multiplicity of flitches jointed and edge glued to each other to provide a veneer sheet of the required width. This technique is made necessary by the scarcity of suitable woods and the necessity of economizing in their use.

The flitches are of varying width, but usually are relatively narrow so that from four to eight are required to make a face I veneer 4 feet in width. Also, the flitches are not necessarily matched. In the absence of some provision in the manufacturing procedure to compensate for these factors, the resulting plywood panel has a mismatched unattractive appearance.

To overcome this problem, it has been proposed to groove the surfaces of the plywood panels along the line of the joints between the flitches. The grooves then are painted so that the mismatch of the flitches is camouflaged and the appearance of the panels greatly improved.

For want of apparatus to accomplish these procedures automatically, it has been the practice to groove and stripe the panels manually. This involves sawing each panel several times manually to cut in its surface a number of grooves determined by the number of flitch joints. The grooves then are painted manually, one at a time. Not only is this time consuming and expensive, but is inefficient and unsatisfactory for a number of reasons.

The hardwood flitches are very thin, so that it is difficult to avoid cutting through them when the grooves are out. If they are pierced, the underlying veneer is exposed. This is ofa different appearance, and is characterized by the presence of voids, knots, and other imperfections which cannot be covered with paint and become painfully apparent when exposed.

Also, it is difficult to saw squarely along the line of the flitch joints so that wavy grooves are produced. Even though the magnitude of the waves is slight, even minor deviations are acutely apparent since straight line relationships are involved.

The striping operation also is difficult to effectuate by hand. If too much paint is applied, it smears over the sides of the grooves and stains the panel. On the other hand, if there is even a hair line area to which paint is not applied along the margins of the grooves, this also is glaringly visible in view of the contrast between the groove paint color, which is usually dark, and the finish of the wood, which is ofa lighter hue.

It accordingly is the general object of the present invention to provide apparatus for painting and striping panels, particularly plywood panels, which is characterized by the following advantages:

It cuts the grooves straight and true exactly along the lines of the flitch joints.

It applies the paint accurately in the grooves without smearing and without leaving a portion of the groove margins unpainted.

It is possible to adjust the depth of cut as required to accommodate flitches of varying thickness, eliminating the hazard of grooving completely through the face veneers.

It is easily adjustable to accommodate panels having face veneers composited from flitches of varying width.

It is easily adjusted to accommodate panels having face veneers composited from varying numbers of flitches.

It is easy to operate in that the grooving mechanism may be aligned quickly and accurately with the flitch joints.

The manner in which the foregoing and other objects of the invention are accomplished will be apparent from the accompanying specification and claims, considered together with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the infeed end of the herein described apparatus illustrating a plywood panel being fed thereto, and the manner of aligning the grooving elements of the apparatus with the flitch joints;

FIG. 3 is a partial view in side elevation of the apparatus looking in the direction of the of line 3-3 of arrows FIG. 3 is a partial view in side elevation of the apparatus looking in the direction of the arrows of line 33 of F IG. 2, parts being broken away and parts being in section;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of a grooving unit taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevation and FIG. 6 an end elevation, partly in section, of a groove striping unit which follows the grooving unit of FIG. 4.

The apparatus of the present invention broadly comprises a plurality of grooving cutters and mounting means for mounting them side by side for lateral adjusting movement. Adjusting means are connected to the cutters for adjusting their lateral position relative to each other. An image-projecting light, or other indicating means, is mounted on each cutter. This is arranged to indicate on the surface of the panel the position of the cutter on which it is mounted. Thus, by adjusting the cutters laterally until the images register with the flitch joints, the cutters may be positioned accurately to cut grooves along the joints.

Adjusting means also are provided for adjusting the height of the cutters relative to the work, and for inactivating selected ones of the cutters, depending upon the number of grooves that are to be cut.

Still further, paint applying or striping means are mounted in a trailing position with respect to the cutters, one such means being provided for each cutter. Each of these comprises basically a case mounted on the frame mounting the associated cutter. The case is provided with a paint-containing reservoir having on its outer surface a guide which tracks in the groove. The reservoir communicates with apassageway which opens out in the groove.

Valve means start and stop the flow of paint to conform to the movement of the panels as they are conveyed through the apparatus. Thus, during a single traverse of the panel relative to the apparatus, the panel is grooved accurately along the lines of all the flitch joints, and the grooves thus produced all are striped accurately with a coloring material of the desired color.

Considering the foregoing in greater detail and with particular reference to the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates the infeed end of a feed table 10 provided with a side guide 12 by means of which panel 14 is fed to the apparatus. The panel may comprise a conventional plywood panel of the class used as fine, highly finished panelling in offices, homes and public buildings. The face veneer of such a panel is formed of decorative woods which are scarce and expensive; the core and back veneers, of less expensive woods having a less desirable appearance.

In the manufacture of the panels, the face veneers are composited from a plurality of flitches l6 manufactured by clipping structurally intact segments from a sheet of veneer peeled from a log. The flitches are of random width. They are glued together edge to edge in mismatched relation. This creates joints 18 between the flitches. The mismatch is apparent and the joints unsightly. Nevertheless, glue is applied to the core and the face, core and back veneers assembled in the usual cross band arrangement and pressed to produce a plywood panel. The face surface of the latter is characterized by the same mismatch and flitch joints which are present on the original face veneers.

This undesirable characteristic is corrected by feeding the panels through the herein described apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus is mounted on a frame which comprises a pair of spaced, parallel side plates 26 interconnected and braced by framing members including floor pieces 28, transverse channel members 30, and other suitably arranged cross members.

The panels are fed manually one at a time across table until their leading ends are engaged by a pair of driven feed rolls 34, 36 and cooperating single rolls 38, 40. All of the feed rolls are mounted on shafts, the ends of which are journaled in bearings supported on side plates 26. All are driven from a common power source such as a variable speed electric motor 42. This drives the rolls in the feed direction by means of an endless chain and sprocket assembly 44.

A pair of idling pressure wheels 45 mounted on a common shaft cooperate with the feed rolls by pressing on the panels to maintain them in a flattened condition.

The processing of the panels as they pass through the apparatus involves the basic operations of aligning a plurality of cutting or grooving elements with the flitch joints, grooving the panels along the lines of the joints, and thereafter painting or striping the grooves a desired color. The aligning step may include also the step of altering the number of operative cutting and striping units so that there remain a number which corresponds to the number of flitch joints in the panel. This number varies from panel to panel, as noted above.

All of these functions are accomplished by a simple, efficient assembly which is supported and guided on a substantial cross shaft 50 and a parallel, spaced, cross bar 52.

Shaft 50 pivotally mounts a plurality ofindependent frames, eight in the illustrated form ofthe invention. Each comprises a sleeve 54 housing a bearing 56 which journals the frame on shaft 50. A clevis 58 is welded to the sleeve and extends outwardly in the downstream direction. One end of a substantial horizontal arm 60 is retained in the clevis by a pivot pin 61.

The There end of arm 60 if unsupported would tend to gravitate downwardly in the direction of panel 14. This tendency is controlled and applied to the lowering and raising of the operative elements of the assembly into and out of contact with the work by the provision of a vertical lever 62 which is connected to and extends vertically upwardly from horizontal arm 60. The upper end ofthis arm is coupled by a pivot pin 64 to one end ofa horizontal link 66. The other end of the link is adjustably connected by means of screw 68 to a pneumatic or other fluid operated cylinder 70.

Arm 60 and the work units which it supports, further is supported by an upright post 72 which is welded to the upper surface of sleeve 54. The upper end of the post is reduced in diameter and forms a shaft journaling a roller cam 74. This tracks on a side face ofcross bar 52.

A dual purpose bracket 76 is bolted to the upper end of post 72. On one of its ends, bracket 76 mounts clevis 77 to which the case of cylinder 70 is pivoted by means of pin 79. The outer end of bracket 76 mounts an illuminating device 78 which has for its function casting a reference mark on the upper surface ofthe panel to mark the position of the grooving assembly relative to flitch joints 18. This mark is indicated by the symbol 80 of FIG. 1. The device used to cast it may consist of an electric light assembly including a masked lens.

Means are provided not only for raising and lowering arm 60 and the operating units which it supports, but also for shifting the entire frame including sleeve 54 and arm 60 and lever 62, laterally as required to align marks 80 with the reference lines provided by the flitchjoints.

To this end there are provided a plurality of cylinderoperated endless cable and pulley drives, one for each grooving sub assembly.

Each of the drives includes a double acting cylinder 84, FIG. 2. This preferably is an hydraulic cylinder in a circuit with and controlled by one of control valves 85 (FIG. 1), mounted on feed table 10 and conveniently available to the operator. The cylinders are mounted in banks on transverse channel members 30. The respective ends of each cylinder are connected to a cable 86 which includes an adjusting turnbuckle 88. The cable is reeved about pulleys 90 to establish a cable and pulley drive, the plane of which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axes ofshaft 50 and bar 52.

The working stretch of cable 86 is connected to sleeve 54 by providing a tab 92 on the latter. This extends radially outwardly opposite to arm 60. The tab has a transverse opening dimensioned to receive cable 86 and a set screw 94 which secures the cable in a desired position of adjustment.

It is to be noted that tabs 92 are arranged in two banks of four each to correspond to the two banks of cylinders 84. Also, the tabs of each bank are of different length to provide clearance for the cables.

By actuation of cylinders 84, the operator can adjust the grooving units laterally as required to line them up with the panel reference lines; by actuation of cylinders 70 he can place selected ones of the units in or out of contact with the work. Means also are provided for controlling the depth of cut accurately as required to insure that the cutting elements will not cut through the surface veneers even though the latter are very thin.

The grooving unit characterized by these functions is indicated generally at 100, FIG. 3, and illustrated in detail in FIG. 4.

Although various types of cutting elements may be employed in the grooving unit, it is preferred to employ a rotary power saw. This is supported adjustably on arm 60 by grooving the opposite side faces of the latter vertically to provide two guideways. One receives a support plate 102 and the other adjustably receives a slotted support plate 104.

Plate 102 suspends a rotary motor 106. This is an air motor in the illustration. It is fed with compressed air through a pipe 108 communicating with a compressed air manifold 110.

The long, stepped shaft of motor 106 supports a rotary saw blade 112 mounted on the shaft by means of a nut 114. The saw blade has a contour predetermined to cut a groove of the desired shape. This usually is hemispherical.

Plate 104 is adjustable vertically. To this end it has a slot 116 penetrated by a stud 118 mounted on and extending laterally outwardly from arm 60.

The upper surface of the latter arm mounts an angle iron 120 which is threaded to receive adjustment bolt 122. The latter is fixed to the upper end of plate 104. A delicate adjustment of the height of the bar thus may be secured and maintained.

The lower extremity of plate 104 has a large central opening 124 which affords clearance for the shaft of motor 106. It also mounts a bearing 126.

The latter bearing receives a stub shaft projecting from the inner face of a support wheel 128 and thus rotatably mounts the latter as it tracks on the panel. The stub shaft is hollow and also affords adequate clearance for the shaft of motor 106.

Support wheel 128 is mounted eccentrically with respect to saw 112. By adjusting plate 104 upwardly and downwardly, the position of support wheel 128 relative to the saw can be varied by small increments. It thus controls accurately the depth of the groove cut by the saw which it supports.

Although the grooves formed along the lines of the flitch joints in this manner may be left uncolored, or colored in a separate operation, it is preferred to paint or otherwise color them by means of a unit which is integrated in the herein described grooving assembly and colors (stripes) the grooves immediately after they are formed.

Preliminary to applying the coloring material, the grooves are vacuumed to remove any accumulated sawdust by means ofa vacuum hood 130, FIG. 3, which communicates through a conduit 132 with vacuum manifold 134.

The striping or coloring unit is indicated generally at 140. It is shown in its general relation to the rest of the assembly in FIG. 3, and in detail in FIGS. 5 and 6.

Stripping unit is mounted on arm 60, downstream from grooving unit 100. The side face of the arm is provided with a milled vertical slot which serves as a guideway for a vertical support plate 142. The upper end of this plate is slotted to receive a locking bolt and nut 144. A threaded adjustment screw 146 with associated locking nuts extends upwardly from plate 142 and penetrates an opening in an angled bracket 148 extending upwardly from arm 60. Plate 142 thus may be adjusted to a desired elevation and locked in place.

The position of the striping unit relative to the work is further established and maintained by means of a coil spring 149 with an associated adjustably threaded stop 151.

Plate 142 pivotally supports an angled bracket 150 on the lower end of which a heavy, shoe-like case 152 pivotally is mounted by means of a pivot pin 154. This is the instrumentality by means of which the paint, ink or other pigment is applied to the groove.

To this end case 152 is formed with a chamber 156 supplied with pigmented fluid through a duct 158. Duct 158 communicates with a conduit 160 which in turn communicates with an ink reservoir 164. The reservoir is maintained under pressure by means of compressed air supplied through another conduit 166 communicating through a regulating valve 162 with a compressed air manifold 163.

The under surface of case 152 mounts a guide or runner 170. This extends longitudinally of the case. It has an exterior surface which is contoured to match the contour ofthe groove in panel 14. Thus in a typical installation it is hemispherical in contour to match a hemispherical groove.

The contact surface of guide 170 is co-extensive with the groove, filling it completely. However, as shown particularly in FIG. 5, its trailing end is relieved at 172.

Paint, ink, or other coloring material contained in chamber 156 is transmitted to the groove via a small duct 174 which communicates with the relieved area 172 of the guide. Coloring material forced out through this duct thus is dissipated in the groove and spread by the trailing end of the guide to the full limits of the groove but without wiping the groove clean, as would be the case ifthe relieved area 172 were not present.

The flow of coloring material through duct 174 is further controlled by a needle valve assembly, the manner of construction of which is shown particularly in FIG. 6.

A needle 175 is seated in a valve seat provided at the upper end of duct 174. The needle is spring pressed by means of a spring 176. It is housed in a tubular guide 178 which is threaded into case 152 at one end and sealed with a packing nut 180 at the other.

The upper end of needle 175 is coupled by means ofa pivot pin 182 to the arm ofa solenoid 184. The latter is mounted on an angular bracket 186 which in turn is supported on the upper surface of case 152. Operation of the needle valve by means of solenoid 184 thus initiates and arrests the flow of coloring material through duct 174.

The control system is set up in such a manner that when one of grooving sub-assemblies 100 is inactivated, the associated image-producing light 78 and associated striping unit 140 also are inactivated. This is necessary to prevent confusion in aligning the remaining grooving sub-assemblies and also to prevent continued flow of coloring material from the striping unit, soiling the panels. This is accomplished as follows:

Cylinder 70, which raises and lowers the grooving unit, is supplied with compressed air by a conduit system 190 which includes a solenoid-operated valve 192 and compressed air manifold 194.

Illuminating device 78, solenoid 184 controlling the flow of coloring material and solenoid 192 controlling cylinder 70 all are in an electric circuit together and all are controlled by one of switches 195, FIG. 1, located adjacent the operator on feed table 10. Thus when a particular grooving sub-assembly 100 is inactivated, the associated illuminating device 78 also is inactivated as is the associated striping unit 140.

When the units are not thus inactivated and the panels are progressing through the apparatus in normal sequence, all of striping units 140 are inactivated automatically during the intervals between panels, i.e., during the times between-panel gaps are opposite the striping units. This result is accomplished by providing a photoelectric cell 196 located to detect the gaps. This is in a circuit with solenoid 184. It operates to close all of needle valves 175 whenever the gaps are opposite the striping units.

OPERATION The operation of the herein described striping apparatus is as follows:

A first operator loads and squares a panel 14 on feed table 10 as shown in FIG. 1. A second operator then aligns the individual pairs of grooving and striping units so that they are aligned with flitch joints 18 of the panel. He accomplishes this by adjusting valves which in turn energize cylinders 84, FIG. 2. These with their associated cables move the combination grooving and stripping units 100, laterally on shaft 50 until images 80 produced by light sources 78 are exactly over the joints. During such motion, the units are stabilized by means of cam rollers 74 rolling and bearing against support bar 52.

In the event that the total number of grooving and striping units does not correspond to the total number of joints in a particular panel, a selected one or more of the units is inactivated by energizing one or more of cylinders 70 by means of switches 195. This elevates the unit to be inactivated by pivoting support bar 60 about pivot pin 61. It also inactivates the associated striping unit 140 and illuminating device 78.

The groove depth is controlled accurately by the setting of support wheels 128, FIG. 4, relative to saws 112. The setting is made carefully so that the saws do not penetrate the thin decorative face veneers of the plywood panels.

Sawdust resulting from operation of the cutters is exhausted by vacuum hoods 130. This leaves clean grooves which are painted or striped by the trailing striping units 140. The guiding members of the latter not only track in the grooves, but, being codimensional with the latter, apply and spread the coloring material uniformly over the groove surfaces, precisely to the edges of the grooves, without leaving sharply visible unpainted areas and without smearing the panel surface.

There thus is provided an apparatus by means of which mismatched plywood panels may be grooved and striped rapidly, accurately, with minimum labor, and with minimum panel spoilage.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for grooving panel surfaces along longitudinally extending, laterally spaced lines which comprises:

a. a frame,

b. a plurality of grooving cutters,

c. a plurality of mounting members one associated with each cutter,

d. a horizontal shaft on the frame supporting the mounting members for independent lateral adjustment and for independent pivotal movement on the axis of the shaft,

e. a plurality of cutter support members connected pivotally one to each mounting member and each supporting one of the cutters,

f. linkage means including an adjustable member pivotally interconnecting each mounting member and associated cutter support member for pivoting the cutter support member relative to the mounting member for moving the cutter between a retracted position away from a panel to be grooved and an operative position engaging a panel to be grooved,

g. each assembly of mounting member, cutter support member and linkage means being arranged to pivot about the axis of the shaft normally in the direction to move the cutter toward said operative position,

h. abutment means on the frame and each mounting member arranged for mutual engagement for limiting movement of the mounting members in the direction of said operative position,

. indicating means on each mounting member arranged to provide an index on a panel in alignment with the associated cutter for aligning the cutter with a line along which the panel is to be grooved, and

. traversing means for traversing the cutters and a panel relative to each other in the direction of the grooving panel grooving and lines, with the cutters in operative, groove-cutting engagement with the panel surface.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each assembly of mounting member, cutter support members and linkage means is arranged unsymmetrically with respect to the shaft for urging the cutter by gravity toward said panel-grooving position.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the abutment means comprises a horizontal cam bar on the frame and a cam roller on each mounting member arranged to bear against the bar.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the adjustable member comprises an extensible fluid pressure cylinder.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each cutter comprises a rotary saw including a rotary motor, a shaft driven by the motor, a saw blade mounted on the shaft, saw-height adjusting means comprising a wheel bearing against the surface of a panel to be grooved, and a wheel support rotatably mounting the wheel, the wheel being substantially parallel to the saw blade and eccentrically supported with respect thereto by an amount predetermined to support the saw blade in said operative position wherein it cuts a groove of desired depth.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the indicating means comprises illuminated image casting means for casting an image on a panel. 

1. Apparatus for grooving panel surfaces along longitudinally extending, laterally spaced lines which comprises: a. a frame, b. a plurality of grooving cutters, c. a plurality of mounting members one associated with each cutter, d. a horizontal shaft on the frame supporting the mounting members for independent lateral adjustment and for independent pivotal movement on the axis of the shaft, e. a plurality of cutter support members connected pivotally one to each mounting member and each supporting one of the cutters, f. linkage means including an adjustable member pivotally interconnecting each mounting member and associated cutter support member for pivoting the cutter support member relative to the mounting member for moving the cutter between a retracted position away from a panel to be grooved and an operative position engaging a panel to be grooved, g. each assembly of mounting member, cutter support member and linkage means being arranged to pivot about the axis of the shaft normally in the direction to move the cutter toward said operative position, h. abutment means on the frame and each mounting member arranged for mutual engagement for limiting movement of the mounting members in the direction of said operative position, i. indicating means on each mounting member arranged to provide an index on a panel in alignment with the associated cutter for aligning the cutter with a line along which the panel is to be grooved, and j. traversing means for traversing the cutters and a panel relative to each other in the direction of the grooving lines, with the cutters in operative, groove-cutting engagement with the panel surface.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each assembly of mounting member, cutter support members and linkage means is arranged unsymmetrically with respect to the shaft for urging the cutter by gravity toward said panel-grooving position.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the abutment means comprises a horizontal cam bar on the frame and a cam roller on each mounting member arranged to bear against the bar.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the adjustable member comprises an extensible fluid pressure cylinder.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each cutter comprises a rotary saw including a rotary motor, a shaft driven by the motor, a saw blade mounted on the shaft, saw-height adjusting means comprising a wheel bearing against the surface of a panel to be grooved, and a wheel support rotatably mounting the wheel, the wheel being substantially parallel to the saw blade and eccentrically supported with respect thereto by an amount predetermined to support the saw blade in said operative position wherein it cuts a groove of desired depth.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the indicating means comprises illuminated image casting means for casting an image on a panel. 